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Cup Final One (of three) - pre-match


mjmooney

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1 hour ago, Demitri_C said:

Mings is huge though there is no way he won't play. 

It's a tough call between hause and Taylor for me. Taylor is woeful when he passes the half way line and very small. Hause height like you say could be crucial 

I didn't say Mings wouldn't play. 

It won't be tough for the manager I'm sure, Taylor will start. 

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Taylor has been very handy on the ball recently. I too would prefer to see Hause, but I'm not going to deny Taylor the praise he deserves.

He plays smart wall passes and overlaps in the early phases of attack which allow us width in build up and allows Smith's circulation play to move from third to third.

No, Taylor's role generally doesn't have much purpose beyond the middle third of the pitch, you won't see him playing the penetrating pass that's been built towards.

That's fine, as long as he covers the ground necessary to pressure the opponent into errors and doesn't over commit in defense...

Then I'm more than happy for him to play a facilitator role with wall passes and overlaps that don't take him too far out of his depth and compromise us on the transition.

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11 hours ago, AJ said:

Regardless of whoever Deano selects, I would be happy. Whether its Hause or Axel, Conor or Glen, Albert, Andre or Kodj, I would have faith in that team because they are all playing well. Deano is the man at ground zero, and I fully trust his judgement.

It has been literally years since I have been able to say something like that about Villa, and it makes me feel warm and fuzzy all over.

This is exactly where I am at. I trust Smith and whatever side he selects to go out and perform well, he has got very little wrong since becoming our manager and hopefully he can get us over the line in the next 3 games.

Whichever starting eleven he picks, the most satisfying thing for me is the strength in depth of the bench with players returning from fitness and that could be key with two games in quick succession.

 

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5 hours ago, 7392craig said:

Taylor may have improved but he is still the worst of our back four when it comes to attacking. He’s often too ponderous on the ball in the opposition half. However he’s been  present in the team during the run we’ve been on and I’d be uncomfortable changing things right now. He needs to be shown the door this summer though, whichever league were in.

It kind of sounds like you are agreeing with me but then the only reason you wouldn't change things is because of the run we've been on?

Well that run is over, we are on a new run of playing the better teams in the league (like we will in the play offs), we drew one and lost one - Taylor played in both. Hows that for a run?

If the only reason people can come up with for Taylor to be selected ahead of Hause is not to disrupt things then you are just being superstitious. Would you keep Kodjia up front instead of Abraham then, or just play the better player?

Also I don't see an odd overlap as "built a partnership" with El Ghazi. How many throughballs or good crosses do we see from Taylor? we saw more from Hause in his short stint at left back than we have all season from Taylor.

When we played Leeds in December Alioski absolutely tore Taylor to shreds, like I said we are playing better teams now so we should just pick the best players. Hause is much better the left back and offers more at set pieces as well. 

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On 08/05/2019 at 09:10, dont_do_it_doug. said:

If you think Leeds are the only shot team in the playoffs, you haven't been watching West Brom lately. They really, really needed to sort that manager issue out weeks ago. With Rodriguez and Gayle up front they are always going to cause problems, but without Barnes and with ageing legs in midfield, I don't see how they keep a hold of us for 180 minutes. If we are aggressive enough up against the likes of Gibbs, Holgate, Bartley, we will score goals, it's going to come down to how many we concede in return. 

I would 100% start Whelan on Saturday and then assess it from there. Take it one game at a time. He looks to me to be in at prime fitness and his game management is just so much better than Hourihane's, plus you obviously trust him more defensively. West Brom will likely play quite direct, so you want him using his jedi mind trick to pick up those second balls, setting us up for the counter or settling the game when needed.

Hourihane on the other hand will be much more effective from the bench, dropping into those pockets of space and bursting into the box against tired legs. It's a no-brainer for me.  

Key!!!

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My side: Kalinic

Elmohamady Tuanzebe Mings Taylor

Grealish Hourihane McGinn

Adomah Abraham El Ghazi

Bench: Steer, Elphick, Jedinak, Hutton, Kodjia, Lansbury, Davis

As a side note, can Gary Gardner play for us?

 

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31 minutes ago, sir_gary_cahill said:

My side: Kalinic

Elmohamady Tuanzebe Mings Taylor

Grealish Hourihane McGinn

Adomah Abraham El Ghazi

Bench: Steer, Elphick, Jedinak, Hutton, Kodjia, Lansbury, Davis

As a side note, can Gary Gardner play for us?

 

There is no way Smith will randomly change his keeper now, and quite right too.

No idea about GG

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1 hour ago, sir_gary_cahill said:

My side: Kalinic

Elmohamady Tuanzebe Mings Taylor

Grealish Hourihane McGinn

Adomah Abraham El Ghazi

Bench: Steer, Elphick, Jedinak, Hutton, Kodjia, Lansbury, Davis

As a side note, can Gary Gardner play for us?

 

6 months ago I would have laughed at this question; Whelan?! 

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1 hour ago, sir_gary_cahill said:

My side: Kalinic

Elmohamady Tuanzebe Mings Taylor

Grealish Hourihane McGinn

Adomah Abraham El Ghazi

Bench: Steer, Elphick, Jedinak, Hutton, Kodjia, Lansbury, Davis

As a side note, can Gary Gardner play for us?

 

Kalinic aside, absolutely no chance that would ever happen and rightfully so, that bench is horrible. No Hause, Green, Whelan? 

Edit - Gary Gardner can't play for us no and neither would he. 

Edited by dont_do_it_doug.
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16 minutes ago, dont_do_it_doug. said:

I'll have a pop...

........................................Steer................................................

Elmo................Tuanzebe....................Mings.................Taylor

......................................Whelan............................................

Adomah.............McGinn...............Grealish................El Ghazi

......................................Tammy...........................................

Bench: Kalinic, Hause, Jedinak, Green, Hourihane, Kodjia, Davis

Pretty boring pick I know, but you go with your best team in your most important game of the season. Saturday isn't about trying to reinvent the wheel, it's about putting the team out there with both the attributes and the experience to play the way we do when at our best. Forget Tuesday for now too, go and win this one and see how it crumbles from there. 

I agree with that apart from Lansbury on the bench over Jedinak 

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Just now, Lord Willard said:

I agree with that apart from Lansbury on the bench over Jedinak 

Yeah that's not a bad shout, but I would be concerned with carrying only one defensive replacement on the off chance it all went completely tits up. Couple of injuries etc. Plenty of game changing ability in Green, Hourihane, Kodjia and Davis and Keinan is great for helping to see a game out. 

Side note - refreshing to be able to contemplate bringing a striker on to see a game out rather than a defender/DM.

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14 minutes ago, USA_Villa said:

It all starts today for me. Heading to Philadelphia with my daughter this afternoon for an overnight flight to Manchester. See the family tomorrow and then Villa Park for a massive game on Saturday, returning back to the US on Wednesday after the return leg. Hopefully we will be planning to do it all again for the trip to Wembley. 

Got a feeling this is going to be a special few days. Can't wait. 

That sounds epic.  Have a ball.

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So there I was on FB, chatting about the prospects for Saturday's match with a good mate of mine who happens to be an Albion fan. Perfectly civilised conversation (he's very worried about facing us) - and then a mutual acquaintance butted in. He's a bluenose - "I don't care who wins - as long as it isn't Villa". Why are they so obsessed? It's pathetic. 

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4 hours ago, dont_do_it_doug. said:

I'll have a pop...

........................................Steer................................................

Elmo................Tuanzebe....................Mings.................Taylor

......................................Whelan............................................

Adomah.............McGinn...............Grealish................El Ghazi

......................................Tammy...........................................

Bench: Kalinic, Hause, Jedinak, Green, Hourihane, Kodjia, Davis

Pretty boring pick I know, but you go with your best team in your most important game of the season. Saturday isn't about trying to reinvent the wheel, it's about putting the team out there with both the attributes and the experience to play the way we do when at our best. Forget Tuesday for now too, go and win this one and see how it crumbles from there. 

I’d switch Green for Adomah. I think he’s a much better player. The rest I agree with.

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25 minutes ago, mjmooney said:

Why are they so obsessed?

I don't get how this baffles so many Villa fans. We are what they want to be. They look up to every aspect of this club and they hate themselves for it.

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